Controlled Permissiveness

Hiding the realities of the economic crisis from ourselves and our teenagers is no longer an option. Teenagers and twenty somethings born after the last economic downturn of the 1980s have rarely heard the words "NO" or been denied the latest fashion, gadget, phone, or laptop. The indulged and entitled generation are about to get a lesson in abstinence. Families will have no choice but to cut back, "Last week a semiannual survey of 7,000 15- to 18-year-olds by Piper Jaffray, an investment bank and research firm, showed that annual discretionary spending by teenagers, whose money comes from allowance, gifts and part-time jobs, had dropped 27 percent to $2,600, from its spring 2006 peak of $3,560." The Frugal Teenager, NY Times

A 2007 study by the Harrison Group, a market research firm in Waterbury, Conn., found that nearly 75 percent of parents caved in to their children’s nagging for new video games, half within two weeks.

Perhaps the children of today can now learn the concept of saving....and be forced to make choices on the most meaningful experiences. Parents will be forced to stop using gifts as a form of motivation and be driven to develop non merchandising forms of encouragement.

As we enter this new era of controlled permissiveness….Marketers will have to work smarter to climb to the top of our need set and become more meaningful to a nation in crisis.

Marketing Tip: Communicate why your product is a "must have"...why your product is "needed" today...When crafting your holiday season messages, consider the erosion of consumer confidence, restrained spending...and the anger that may arise from a generation that's never known not having what they want. Final point..with all this heavy sh*t going on in the world...please make us laugh at it all.